Greater
Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus

This Roadrunner was one of two standing symmetrically on low
walls
flanking the entrance to a residential driveway in lower Miller Canyon,
near
Sierra Vista, Arizona, in August 2008. I only wish I could have captured
the two of them in one image, posed as they were like guardian statues.

Roadrunners are rare in Santa Clara County where I live,
especially right around the bay on the valley floor. This one showed up
in Alviso in the Marina parking lot in September 2004, and I was able
to photograph it, roadrunning no less, my first image of this amazing
species.